Abstract:Transplanted 2 to 3-year-old seedlings of Castanopsis fissa, Schima superba,Cryptocarya concinna and Pinus massoniana from Dinghushan subtropical forest were pottedunder 16%, 40% and 100% of full sunlight for 16 months. Growth and dry masspartition at all light levels were measured. Seedlings of P. massoniana survived much betterin full sunlight than in shade, other 3 broad-leaf species survived well in both conditions.Seedling heights and diameters of P. massoniana and C concinna after transplanting for 16 months were greater in full sunlight than in shade．The number of branches declined with decreasing light intensity for all species．The number of leaves was greater in shade than in full sunlight for C．concinna and C．fissa, but lower for S．superba, when leaf fall was negligible．Expressed as a portion of peak dry mass at 100％，the relative whole plant dry mass for species grown under 40％ and l6％ sunlight was 57.4％ and 32.7％ (P. massoniana) 73.8％ and 62.1％ (C. concinna)，78.O％ and 78.6％ superba)，93.9％ and 76.2％ (C.fissa)，respectively．For Castanopsis fissa，Schima superba，aboveground dry mass showed little variation among treatments，but root dry mass declined with decreasing light intensity，while both above-and underground dry mass for Cryptocarya concinrla，Pinus massoniana dropped markedly with decreasing light intensity．Crown-root ratio (CRR)，leaf-plant weight ratio (LWR)，leaf area ratio (LAR) and specific leaf area (SLA) were higher in shade than in sunlight for all the 3 broad-leaf species．P．massoniana，a sun-loving species，had much limited potential in acclimating shade environment, while C. concinna was considered shade-tolerant species，yet grew more rapidly in full sunlight．